Benson Henderson learned a lot from loss to Anthony Pettis

UFC lightweight champ Benson Henderson has come out of seven straight scraps with his hand raised and, according to the 29-year old, it’s not a coincidence he hasn’t been beaten since falling to Anthony Pettis in late 2010. Though it was his second loss, the defeat to Pettis switched on a light bulb in Henderson’s head causing him to realize he’d been entering the ring with the wrong kind of mindset.

Henderson recently elaborated on the impact the stumble had on his career, promising fans a different result in his rematch with Pettis.

“I didn’t have wholesale changes in anything I did. A lot of time guys lose one fight, and they think, ‘Oh, I’ve got to change things up. I’ve got to move and find different coaches.’ Everything pretty much stayed the same. All my coaches stayed the same, all my training partners stayed the same at my gym. So there were no wholesale changes, but I changed the away I approach fights,” explained Henderson in an interview with MMAJunkie. “After the Pettis fight, my mindset was to just go in there and go beat the guy up. I don’t care about this or that or media or fans saying this or Dana White saying this or title fights promised. Forget all that. It doesn’t matter. Go out there and beat the guy up. I changed my mindset after that fight.”

And, as might be expected, the 155-pounder plans on doing just that when he gets his hands on Pettis next month at UFC 164.

“I’m going to go out there and beat him up. I’m going to dominate him for five rounds,” the confident champ stated on how he envisions the fight unfolding.

Though the 19-2 Henderson’s prediction implies a one-sided affair on August 31, backing up the tough talk could prove to be difficult. The well-rounded Pettis is 16-2 and has never been finished in his career (or truly beaten up for that matter).